


i want this forever i swear i could spend whatever on it

by isengard



Category: K-pop, Monsta X (Band), No.MERCY (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Marriage, literally just straight up mush, pure fluff, whatever i needed this dont look at me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-15
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-26 11:47:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5003617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isengard/pseuds/isengard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Gunhee marries Jooheon, they’re six years old.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i want this forever i swear i could spend whatever on it

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to Paula, who ignited my feels

The first time Gunhee marries Jooheon, they’re six years old.

“We’re playing grown-ups,” Minhyuk tells him, hopping down from the monkey bars.  “If you want to play, you have to pick a grown-up job to do.”  He mimes a sweeping kick through the air.  “I’m a soccer player."

“I’m a lion tamer,” Hyungwon says, sitting on top of Kihyun.

“I’m a magician!” Jooheon tells him proudly, waving a stick like a wand.  “Like David Copperfield.”

“Oh,” Gunhee says, eyes widening.  He can’t really think of any jobs he wants - the only grown-ups he knows are his mom and his grandmother.  And his teachers.  “I don’t know…”

“You have to pick a job or you can’t play,” Minhyuk says crossly.

“Can I be a dad?” Gunhee asks hopefully.  He doesn’t actually know what a dad does; he hasn’t seen his since before he can remember, but he thinks it has to be something really important.  Maybe all dads have jobs like that, but his dad’s job is _extra_ important, so important that he has to go all over the world to do it, instead of coming home.

Hyungwon makes a face.  “Don’t you have to be married to be a dad?”

“Yes,” Minhyuk decides, before Gunhee can say anything.  “Okay, you can be a dad, but you have to pick someone to marry.”

“Don’t pick me,” Hyungwon says.  “I’m already married to my work.”

Gunhee wasn’t going to pick him anyways.  “Okay,” he says.  “Jooheon?”

Jooheon looks at him.  “What?”

“We’re getting married,” Gunhee explains.  “So I can be a dad.”

“Oh!” Jooheon grins.  “Are you gonna wear a dress?”

Gunhee makes a face at him.  “No way.  Dads don’t wear dresses.”

“I saw a dad on TV wearing a dress,” Kihyun says.

“Lions aren’t supposed to talk,” Hyungwon tells him bossily.

“I’ve never gotten married before,” Jooheon admits.  He looks shy.  Gunhee knows how he feels, he’s never been married before either.  They are, he supposes, a little young.

“It’s really easy,” Minhyuk says.  “You just give each other rings, and then you say ‘I do’.  And then you kiss.”

Jooheon’s eyes widen.  “I don’t have a ring.”

Gunhee also doesn’t have one.

Minhyuk makes an exasperated sound.  “Just pretend!  We’re playing, not doing it for real.”

Gunhee says, “Okay.”  He walks over to Jooheon and holds out his empty palm.  For some reason, he feels a little nervous, like he has to do this quickly or his mom’s going to come yell at him.  “Here’s a ring I got you.  It’s...invisible.”

“Whoa,” Jooheon grins, picking up the invisible ring and slipping it onto his thumb.  “Cool.  Hey, I got you an invisible ring too.”  He takes Gunhee’s hand and pushes the pretend ring onto his finger.  “Are we married now?”

“You have to say, ‘I do’,” Minhyuk says.  He gives them a sly look.  “ _And_ kiss.  It doesn’t count if you don’t kiss.”

“That’s gross,” Hyungwon complains.

Gunhee doesn’t really like the sound of it either.  Being a dad is harder than it seems already.

“I do,” Jooheon says, still holding Gunhee’s hand in his.  “Now you say it.”

Gunhee takes a deep breath.  “I do,” he repeats.  Before he can chicken out, he leans forward and presses his lips against Jooheon’s - sort of, he mostly gets his chin, he thinks, but it’s over and done before he can think to adjust it.

Someone shrieks behind them.  Gunhee turns, scared, only to see Hoseok gaping at them with huge eyes.  “You guys just kissed!”

“They’re just playing,” Minhyuk tells him breezily.  “We’re pretending to be grown-ups.”

“I’m a dad,” Gunhee explains.  Hoseok stares at him, clearly not understanding.

“We’re playing cops and robbers,” he says, turning back to Minhyuk.  “We need more people though.  Under the slide is jail.”

Kihyun jumps out from underneath Hyungwon.  “I wanna play!  I’ll be a robber.”

“I wanna play too!” Hyungwon says, and then Jooheon, and then they’re all sprinting off towards the slide.  By the time recess ends, Gunhee has been a robber twice and a cop four times, and he doesn’t remember wanting to be a dad at all.

He does remember the invisible rings, momentarily, when they’re lining up outside the classroom and Jooheon is holding his hand on one side.  It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing he should talk about, though, outside of the playground.  Teachers never understand that playing is just _playing_ , and he’s already been to the principal’s office once this week for pretending to be a dinosaur in the lunch line.

Jooheon doesn’t say anything about it, and Gunhee doesn’t either.

 

***

 

The second time Gunhee marries Jooheon, they’re ten years old, and they’ve just spent two month’s worth of allowance at the comic book store. 

“This is the series Hoseok hyung was telling me about,” Jooheon says, unloading his spoils onto the picnic bench at the park by Gunhee’s house.  “Professor X sends the X-men to all these different universes, and they have to kill his evil clones.  One of them is a cowboy.”

“Cool,” Gunhee says appreciatively.  He grabs an issue and flips through it.  “Whoa, is that Wolverine?  Who’s he kissing?”

Jooheon grabs it back.  “Hercules, I think.  Don’t read ahead!  That spoils it.”

“I didn’t know Wolverine kissed guys,” Gunhee says, folding his arms.  “That’s weird.”

Jooheon gives him a look.  “You kissed me one time, remember?”

Gunhee blushes.  “That’s different.”

Jooheon laughs.  “Yeah, ‘cause you were bad at it.”

“I was six!  I never - ” Gunhee pauses.  He lowers his voice.  “I never kissed anyone before that.”

“It’s okay,” Jooheon says, still grinning.  “It was my first time too.”

“Duh,” Gunhee says.  He grabs the bag from Jooheon to dig his Spider-Man comics out.  His face is still red, he knows it is, he can’t believe Jooheon just casually mentioned their kiss from _forever_ ago, now of all times.  Gunhee swears he never thought about that moment once for four years straight, but all of a sudden, since a few weeks ago, he’s been thinking about it almost every day, getting reminded of it every time Jooheon leans close to him to whisper something, every time they get jostled together on the bus.  He doesn’t know _why_ \- he’s not sure he wants to know why, if all it’s going to do is make his stomach feel weird and his ears feel hot. 

He wonders if Jooheon’s been thinking about it more too.

“Oh,” he says, startled, as something small and round falls out of the bag.  “Did you buy something else?”

“Huh?  No,” Jooheon says, looking under the bench where the thing just fell.  He reaches down.  “Oh!  Cool, they must’ve given us this for free!”  He holds up a plastic Green Lantern ring, beaming.

Gunhee looks inside the bag and sees a Star Sapphire one too.  “Hey,” he says, pulling it out.  It’s too big for any of his fingers except his thumb.  “Wait, I like the Green Lanterns better.  Wanna trade?”

Jooheon likes the Green Lanterns better too - it’s probably unfair to ask.  “Nevermind,” he says, before Jooheon can reply.  “It’s not a big deal.”

Jooheon rolls his eyes.  “Give me your hand,” he says.

Gunhee lets his arm flop down across the table.

Jooheon makes a face as if he is being very high-maintenance, and then slides the Green Lantern ring onto his ring finger.  It’s too big also, but not as much as the Star Sapphire ring.  Gunhee sits up immediately to admire it.

“So cool,” he says.  “Thanks, man.”

Jooheon gestures with his hand expectantly.

“Oh, right,” Gunhee says.  He slips the purple ring off and takes Jooheon by the wrist.  Jooheon’s fingers are the same size as his, maybe smaller, so there’s a lot of extra space around his finger when Gunhee puts the ring on.

Jooheon giggles.

Gunhee looks at him.  “What?”

“Doesn’t this remind you of - ” Jooheon starts, and Gunhee has to laugh too, because it _does_ remind him of that time on the playground when they were in kindergarten.  

That time when they kissed, too, though he really tries not to think about that part.  Again.

“That was so dumb,” he says, shaking his head.  “We didn’t even have rings then.”

“It still counts,” Jooheon says.

Gunhee gapes at him.  “It totally doesn’t count!  You’re supposed to say more than ‘I do’ anyways.  And there has to be like, a priest and stuff.”

“Oh my God,” Jooheon says.  “I was joking.”

“I know,” Gunhee says, flushing.  “I was just saying." 

He realizes he’s still holding onto Jooheon’s hand, and drops it. 

Jooheon twirls the Star Sapphire symbol around his finger.  “You know,” he says, quietly.  “We have rings now.”

Gunhee pauses in the middle of reaching for his Spider-Man comics again.  He doesn’t know if Jooheon is still joking.

“So?”

Jooheon’s eyebrows raise at his tone, but he shrugs and gives Gunhee an easy smile.  “I was just saying,” he echoes.

“You want to like, do it over?” Gunhee asks.  He can’t help laughing a little, but it’s not really because he finds it funny.  If anything, he feels like his stomach is going to jump into his throat.

“Only if you want to,” Jooheon says.

“Well,” Gunhee says, swallowing.  “I don’t care.”

Jooheon gives him a long look, then turns back to his comics.  “Sorry,” he says.  “It was dumb, like you said.”

Gunhee feels bad.  He doesn’t know why this feels like a big deal, it’s not, they’re obviously not going to be _really_ married.  It’s just playing around, like before.

“You have to at least propose,” he says, flicking Jooheon on the back of his hand.  “I proposed last time, so now it’s your turn.”

Jooheon’s eyes lift to meet his, and Gunhee can see his mouth working against a smile.  “Oh,” he says.  “Okay.”

“And - ” Gunhee hesitates.  “Um.  Don’t tell anyone.”

Jooheon snorts.  “Don’t be stupid.  I won’t.”

He comes around the table to sit next to Gunhee, and Gunhee feels warm to the soles of his feet.  It feels like he’s been waiting for this for longer than a few seconds, though he doesn’t know how that could be.  It’s the kind of feeling he’s been getting around Jooheon a lot lately, the sense that something is _coming_ , something he doesn’t have the tools to identify and isn’t sure he really wants to.  His mom tells him they’re growing up, but Gunhee has seen firsthand what relationships between grown-ups look like.  He’d just as soon stay a kid forever.

Jooheon clears his throat.  “Gunhee…”

Gunhee doesn’t remember it being this embarrassing the first time.  He stares at his Green Lantern ring, willing himself to be brave.

“My mom told me you should marry someone you want to spend your whole life with,” Jooheon says.  “I’ve already spent my whole life with you.  You’re cool, and you know all the shortcuts in Zelda.”  He places his hand over Gunhee’s on the table.  “Will you marry me?”

“Yeah,” Gunhee says, biting back the hysterical impulse to start laughing again.  “Yes.  A _thousand times_ , yes,” he adds in a high pitched voice.

Jooheon laughs.  “With this awesome Green Lantern ring, I thee wed.”

“Me too,” Gunhee pronounces, squeezing Jooheon’s hand.  “To have to to hold, for, uh.  A really, really long time.”

Jooheon takes his hand and holds it between them, playing with the green ring on Gunhee’s finger.  “Can we...can I kiss you?”

Gunhee’s heart is pounding so hard in his chest he feels almost dizzy.  “Do it fast,” he says.  “I still think kissing is gross.”

“Yeah, me too,” Jooheon says.  “Hold still.”

Gunhee closes his eyes.

This time, Jooheon’s lips find their target.  They’re soft and a little wet against Gunhee’s, as gentle as a feather, and he finds, much to his horror, that it’s not that bad at all.

He opens his eyes, and Jooheon’s entire face is flushed pink.

“That was better than the first time,” he says, for lack of anything else to say.

“I feel kind of weird,” Jooheon admits.  “Maybe we should stop playing this now.”

Gunhee sighs out hugely in relief.  “Yeah, me too.”  He grabs his comics, and Jooheon goes back to his side of the bench.

A few minutes later, Jooheon says, “I didn’t think it was bad, just so you know.”

Gunhee looks up at him.  “Huh?”

“The kiss.”

“Oh.”  Gunhee pretends to think about it.  “Yeah, I didn’t either.  It was okay.”

“And Wolverine and Hercules kiss each other, so it’s kind of cool,” Jooheon adds.  “They fight lots of monsters too.  They just chopped the heads off like, a hundred demons.”

“Wolverine is really cool,” Gunhee says, acknowledging.  “I can be Wolverine.”

Jooheon grins.  “I’ll be Hercules.”

“We should play this at recess tomorrow,” Gunhee says.  “Hyungwon hyung can be Magneto again.”

“Oh!  We should play Lanterns, too,” Jooheon says.  “I think your Green Lantern Corps shirt is still at my house.  I’ll bring it to school.”

“Okay,” Gunhee agrees.  He’s glad they’re back to normal now - he half expects Jooheon to take his Star Sapphire ring off and pocket it, since it’s comically big and they’re not playing Lanterns until tomorrow.  He doesn’t know why it makes his chest feel too big and his skin feel too small to see it sliding around on Jooheon’s finger.

It’s just a toy, and they were just pretending.

But Jooheon doesn’t take his ring off, and Gunhee doesn’t either.

 

***

 

The third time, they’re sixteen, and it’s probably the most embarrassing moment of Gunhee’s entire life.

“Just _ask_ him,” Kihyun says for the ten-thousandth time.  “You’re practically dating already.  There’s literally a zero percent chance he’s going to say no.”

Objectively, Kihyun is right.  Gunhee would rather jump off the roof than ever tell him that, but it’s true that he and Jooheon are - very close to _something_.  They’ve spent more time making out in Jooheon’s room than doing homework lately, and Jooheon very recently gave Gunhee his first ever handjob in the laundry room in Gunhee’s basement.  It’s definitely not an unwelcome development; realistically it’s probably the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to Gunhee in his life.

Still, none of that means necessarily that Jooheon wants to go to Homecoming with him.

“It’s just a dance,” Hyunwoo reasons.  “It’s not that big of a deal if you guys go together or not.”

Kihyun smacks him on the arm.  “It is too!”

“But he’s like, having a crisis,” Hoseok says, gesturing to Gunhee.  “Snap out of it, dude.  You’re not asking him to freaking marry you.”

Gunhee feels his stomach drop out.  “Oh, my God.”  He buries his face in his hands.  “Why would you even.”

There’s a collective silence around the table, and then Minhyuk says, slowly, “Do you….do you _want_ to ask him to marry you?”

“No!  Well, I sort of did already,” Gunhee says.  “You were there, remember?”

“Uh, I think I would remember that,” Minhyuk says.

“We were six.”

Hoseok says, “Gunhee, what the fuck.”

“Leave me alone,” Gunhee says, laying his cheek down on the cold plastic of the tabletop.  “It’s fine.  We’ll just go stag, or maybe someone else will ask him.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Kihyun says.  “He’s not going to say no.”

“What did he say when you asked him to get married?” Minhyuk asks.

“He said ‘okay’,” Gunhee says, voice muffled.  “And the second time, I said ‘okay’.”

Yoosu says, “This is getting kind of gross.”

“Just go up to him,” Kihyun says.  “Don’t make a big deal out of it.  Just say, ‘Will you go to Homecoming with me?’  I _know_ he wants you to ask him.”

Gunhee glances at him suspiciously.  “Did he tell you that?”

Kihyun makes an exasperated noise.  “It’s just obvious!”

“Also, if he said yes to marriage, he’ll probably say yes to Homecoming,” Hyungwon points out.

“Can we please stop talking about marriage,” Gunhee pleads.  “I’m like, ten years too young for this conversation.”

“Apparently you’re ten years too old,” Hoseok says, snickering.  Everyone else laughs too, even Kihyun.  Assholes.

“Do you think you guys will go all the way after Homecoming?” Minhyuk asks, leaning closer.  “Is that why you’re nervous?”

Gunhee gapes at him.

“Then it would really be like a wedding night,” Hyunwoo muses.  Kihyun gives him a scandalized look, and Hyungwon high-fives him.

In all honesty, Gunhee has considered that.  He thinks he’s ready, if that’s what Jooheon wants to do.  They haven’t really talked about it, just a few words exchanged in the heat of the moment when Gunhee’s knee is pressed between Jooheon’s legs on Jooheon’s mattress and Jooheon’s lips are against his neck, or more recently, Jooheon’s hand wrapped around him, wet with spit and come, Gunhee’s sweaty forehead pressed against his and Jooheon’s whispered voice in his ear, against his mouth.

He thinks about what it would be like to have sex with Jooheon way too much, he’s cognizant of that.  But also, he’s sixteen, and he doesn’t actually know how to stop.

“I think we broke him,” Hoseok says.  “He’s already picking out rings in his head.  Linens, probably.”

“Dude,” Yoosu says.  “I better be your best man.”

“I,” Gunhee says, very firmly.  “Am _not_ asking Jooheon to - ”

He cuts off at a frantic gesture from Minhyuk, and turns to see Jooheon standing right behind him, looking frankly bewildered.

Hyungwon whistles lowly.  “Wow.”

“Uh, hi,” Jooheon says, looking at them all with wide eyes.  “What’s...going on, guys?”

“Gunhee has something to ask you,” Kihyun says, before Gunhee can come up with an excuse.  “Don’t look at me like that, just get it over with.  We’re all getting old here.”

“Whoa,” Jooheon says.  “Um, okay.”  He turns to Gunhee, fidgeting slightly where he stands.  He looks like he genuinely has no idea what’s going on, but his face is so sweet it makes Gunhee’s chest hurt.

He’s probably in love with Jooheon, he thinks.

He probably does actually want to marry him, too.  Not now, but if Jooheon wanted to ask him now, for whatever reason, Gunhee doesn’t think he would say no.

“Shit,” he says.  “I’m just gonna say it.  Jooheon, will you marry me?”

He feels relieved for approximately one-third of a second, and then he realizes what he said.

Jooheon turns bright red.  “I - ”

“That is -- _not_ what I meant, oh my God,” Gunhee stammers.  “Oh my God.  This is your fault,” he points accusingly at their friends, who are all in various states of hysterics.  “Fucking hell.  I meant to ask - ”

“ - yes.”

“ - if you would go to Homecoming with me?” Gunhee finishes.  He’s sweating so bad he thinks he might pass out.

“Wait a minute,” Yoosu says.  He sits up straighter and looks at Jooheon.  “What did you say?  Did you say yes?”

Jooheon looks at his shoes.  He nods.

“You did?” Gunhee asks, breathless.  “You’ll go to Homecoming with me?”

“No, you fucking dumbshit,” Yoosu laughs, elbowing Gunhee.  “He said yes to marrying you.  Your cheap ass didn’t even buy him a ring.”

The corners of Jooheon’s mouth twitch up.  “We have rings.”

“Yeah,” Gunhee says.  He elbows Yoosu back.  He wants to sink through the floor and die, sure, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have the last word.  “Got ‘em six years ago, bitch.”

“Do you still have yours?” Jooheon asks.

“Yeah - I think so,” Gunhee says, attempting to save face.  Embarrassingly, he knows exactly where his Green Lantern ring is, even though he hasn’t worn it since he was twelve.  It’s in the drawer in his nightstand, next to a box of tissues and the condoms and lube he paid a homeless man to buy for him the day after the first time Jooheon made him come in his pants.

“Is this for real?” Hoseok says, leaning forward suddenly.  “Are you guys like, actually engaged now?”

“Did you actually say yes?” Minhyuk asks Jooheon.

Jooheon shifts uncomfortably.

“Everyone _shut up_ ,” Gunhee says.  “I fucking - I wasn’t _trying_ to ask him to marry me.  I don’t know what the fuck even happened.  I just want a date to Homecoming, that’s all.”

“Homecoming’s good,” Jooheon says, nodding at him.  “I kind of figured we were going together anyways.”

Kihyun crosses his arms and fixes Gunhee with a smug look.  “Told you.”

Gunhee turns back to Jooheon with a sigh.  “We need better friends.”

“Probably,” Jooheon agrees.  “We still meeting up after school?”

Gunhee mimes shooting finger guns at him, and immediately feels stupid.  “Yeah,” he says.  “Definitely.”

“Cool,” Jooheon says.  He waves to everyone, and then walks away.

Gunhee drops his forehead onto the table.  “Jesus. Fucking. Christ.”

Yoosu and Minhyuk pat his back supportively.

“I still want to know if you’re actually engaged,” Hoseok says through a bite of yogurt.

“I’m not speaking to you,” Gunhee says to the floor.  “Any of you, ever again.  I’m leaving the country tonight.”

“We have to plan a bachelor party,” Hyungwon says.  “If it’s two guys, do you do one bachelor party, or two?”

“Google it,” Kihyun suggests.

“I’m a good person,” Gunhee says.  “I don’t deserve this.”

“Is anyone else not that surprised?” Hyunwoo asks, looking around.  “I kind of thought he was really asking him.”

Gunhee opens his mouth to deliver a crushing retort, but pauses when he sees Jooheon standing at the entrance to the cafeteria, leaning against the doors and gazing back at their table.

“I’m gonna go to class early,” he says, standing up and pulling his backpack on.  “Yoosu, don’t let them talk too much shit.”

Yoosu gives him a lazy salute.  “I’ll defend your honor.”

“Thank you,” Gunhee says.  “The rest of you, I will see in Hell.”

Minhyuk groans.  “Fuck, I forgot we had chemistry block today.”

Hoseok looks glum, too.  Well.  Serves them right.

“Hey,” he says, touching Jooheon at the elbow when he reaches him.  “Listen, I can explain.”

“It’s okay,” Jooheon grins.  His fingers tangle briefly with Gunhee’s when he pulls his hands out of his pockets and adjusts his backpack straps.  “I was just kind of - surprised, that’s all.”

“I really didn’t mean to ask you that,” Gunhee says as they walk back through the main building.  “I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life, I swear to God.”

“You were _so_ red,” Jooheon teases, laughing and and throwing his head back.  “I’ve never seen you like that before.  It was really cute, actually.”

“By all means, laugh it up,” Gunhee says dryly.  “What’s more hilarious than nuking my reputation in front of all our friends, really.”

“Come on,” Jooheon says, bumping their shoulders together.  “You know it’s funny.”

“Whatever,” Gunhee says.  “Listen, this is a totally stupid question, like, feel free to punch me or something, but you didn’t... _actually_ say yes to me accidentally proposing to you, right?”

Jooheon takes a deep breath.  “Well,” he says.  “From your phrasing, I can kinda tell how you want me to answer that.”

“It’s not - look, it’s not that I don’t - ugh, I’m so bad at this,” Gunhee groans, tugging at his hair.  “It’s not like I would want you to say _no_ if I asked...that, for real.  I just didn’t _mean_ to ask it, you know, even though I love you and you’re my best friend, ride or die, but I’m just not ready for that yet.”

Jooheon gives him a soft look.  “No, I know.  I’m not ready either.”  He glances over his shoulder, checking to see if they’re alone, probably.  Gunhee slows his footsteps and turns, letting Jooheon stop and lean back against the lockers to collect his thoughts.

It hurts, a little, to look at him.  Gunhee doesn’t actually spend a lot of time staring at Jooheon because of the way it takes a hold of him, heavy in his chest like lead and drawing him in like a magnet.  He wants to fuck Jooheon, do every dirty thing with him that he’s ever thought of or seen in a porno, but he also just wants to touch him, to hold his face in his hands, push his hair back with his fingers, run his thumbs along the fan of his eyelashes, things that don’t even make sense.  Gunhee sometimes doubts if it’s normal to want a person the way he wants Jooheon, but there isn’t really anyone he can ask.

“I think,” Jooheon says.  “It’s like you said, you’re my best friend, ride or die.  I want...everything with you.  I’m not going to say no to any of it.”  He shrugs.  “That’s pretty much it.”

Gunhee blinks.  “Oh.”

Jooheon’s ears are red again.

“So, hypothetically,” Gunhee begins, “If I wanted to like, kill someone and dump the body - ”

“I fucking _knew_ you were gonna say that,” Jooheon laughs, shoving him.  “Such a dick.”

“You would know,” Gunhee grins, leaning in conspiratorially.

“Wait till we’re married for real to pull shit like that,” Jooheon says, touching him lightly at his waist.  “Spousal privilege and all.  It’s just common sense.”

“That’s romantic,” Gunhee snorts.  “Hey, babe, wanna get married so you can’t incriminate me in a court of law?”

Jooheon smiles, biting his lip.  “Okay.”  He looks up and down the deserted hall, then snakes his hand around the back of Gunhee’s neck and hauls him in for a kiss.

Jooheon’s lips are as soft as ever when he kisses Gunhee, open mouthed and warm, exhaling a muffled little sound that Gunhee swallows eagerly.  He slides his hand along Jooheon’s jaw and pushes closer to kiss him more deeply, tries to pour everything he’s feeling into those one, two, three seconds, and then they pull apart.

Jooheon interlaces their fingers.  “I now pronounce us,” he says, “Legally wedded, in this hall.”

“Just in this hall?” Gunhee asks, laughing incredulously.

Jooheon nods, looking extremely pleased with himself.  “Just in this hall.  But anytime we’re here together, we’re married.”

The explosion of butterflies in his stomach at those words is just one more thing for Gunhee to add to the This Is Stupid and Makes No Sense file, the ever-expanding one in the back of the file cabinet he has in his mind dedicated entirely to Jooheon.

“You’re crazy,” he says. “You’re like, honestly certifiable.”

Jooheon pats him on the shoulder.  “Hey, don’t be jealous that you didn’t think of it first.  I’m smooth as hell.  You could learn from me, you know.”

“Jerk,” Gunhee says, taking his hand and squeezing it.  “See if I ever marry your rude ass again.”

“Five minutes of marriage and we’re already fighting,” Jooheon sighs.  “I guess it’s hopeless.”

“Of course it is,” Gunhee says, tugging him back from the wall.  He’s going to pin Jooheon down on his bed and kiss him senseless later.  Maybe get his pants off, too.  “I could’ve told you that.”

Jooheon scrunches up his nose at him, and Gunhee flicks him on the forehead.

The bell rings, signaling the end of lunch.

“Ugh,” Gunhee says.  “Back to the salt mines.”  He nudges Jooheon and links their arms together.  “C’mon, I’ll walk you.”

“You don’t have to,” Jooheon tells him as they reach the building foyer.  “We’re only married in this hall, and my next class is in the art building.”

“Shut up,” Gunhee laughs.

They walk.  Jooheon doesn’t let go of his arm, and Gunhee doesn’t either.

 

***

 

The fourth time, they’re twenty-one, and Gunhee hasn’t seen Jooheon in over five months.

Even so, he knows that there’s only one person who’d be blowing up his phone at three AM on a Thursday.  Jooheon doesn’t have Friday classes, and Gunhee does, but Jooheon doesn’t always remember that.

Gunhee picks up the phone on the third redial.  “This better be good,” he mumbles, pushing himself upright in bed.

“Song Gunhee!” Jooheon shouts on the other end.  “Are you dead?  How come you aren’t answering the phone?”

Gunhee sighs, and rubs at his jaw.  “Well, it’s three in the morning.  So, you know.  I was sleeping.”

“Liar,” Jooheon says.  “Who are you with?  Put him on the phone, I’ll kick his _ass_ \- ”

“Sorry, Gunhee,” Kihyun’s voice suddenly replaces Jooheon’s.  “He’s doing the emotional drunk thing.  I told Hyunwoo hyung to take his phone, but it looks like Minhyuk stole it back...you know how they get.”

“It’s okay, hyung,” Gunhee says.  “Put that dumbass back on the phone.  I’ll talk to him.”

“He’s been really mopey all evening,” Kihyun says.  “You’re coming back soon, right?”

“Two more weeks,” Gunhee confirms, glancing at the countdown on his wall calendar.  “This semester’s been hell.”

“For us, too,” Kihyun says.  “We all just finished finals today.  Well, you know that.  But I think that’s why he’s like this.”

“He’s like this because he’s a giant fucking baby,” Gunhee says bluntly.  “Apparently that’s what I’m into.”

“You’re both babies,” Kihyun says.  “Ow - Jooheon, calm _down_.  I’m giving you the phone back.   _Yes_ , he's still there." 

There’s the sound of a brief struggle, and Gunhee waits.

“Hi,” Jooheon says.  His voice is giddy again.  “Um.  I miss you.”

“I know,” Gunhee says.  “I miss you too.”

“You’re not having an affair, right?”

“An ‘affair’?” Gunhee repeats.  “You know, only married people have affairs.”

“We are married!” Jooheon protests.  “I married you like, fifty times!  Don’t be mean.”  He takes a deep breath.  “Look.  If you just had one affair, it’s okay.  I’ll be mad - but it’s okay.  That can happen, I know it can, when you just get lonely, and I’m not there - ”

“Oh my God,” Gunhee says.  “How much did you drink?”

“You keep avoiding the subject.”

“I’m not having an affair!  I mean - I’m not cheating on you!  You know I’m not,” Gunhee exclaims.  “You’re nuts for even saying that, I hope you realize that.  If you weren’t totally shitfaced, my feelings would be hurt right now.”

There’s silence on the other end, then a quiet giggle.  “I know you aren’t cheating,” Jooheon slurs.  “I know that.  I just wanted...to make sure.”  He sighs, and hiccups.  “I really, _really_ miss you.”

“Me too,” Gunhee says.

“Wait.  I have to tell you something,” Jooheon says.  “Kihyun hyung and Hyungwon hyung are _dating_ now.  They won’t admit it, but they are.  I caught them dry humping on the couch yesterday when I came home early from work.”

“You texted me when it happened,” Gunhee tells him.  “The pictures weren’t necessary.”

“Do you know how long it’s been since we’ve dry humped on that couch?” Jooheon demands.  “Honestly, I got kind of turned on watching them.”

There’s the sound of someone screeching something in the background, and Jooheon’s voice becomes distant as he says, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!  It wasn’t like that, hyung, I promise.  No, let go, I’m fine.”

“Sorry about that,” he says to Gunhee.  I’m gonna...go...outside.  These people are too rowdy.  I just wanna talk to my boyfriend and they keep interrupting me.”

“Very inconsiderate,” Gunhee says.

“That’s what I’m saying!  Anyways.”  Jooheon’s voice sounds clearer now, away from all the din.  “What are you doing?” 

“Sleeping,” Gunhee repeats.  He bites his lip, he might as well be honest.  “Missing you.  A lot.”

“Were you jerking off.”

“No,” Gunhee says.  “I didn’t mean like that.  But - okay, that too.  But really, I wasn’t.”

“Uh-huh,” Jooheon says.  “You think about me, right?”

“When I’m jerking off?  Uh, yeah,” Gunhee laughs.  “Yeah, I think about you.  I have a whole folder of pictures on my phone that I use to think about you.  Thanks for that one last night, by the way.”

“I knew you’d like it,” Jooheon says.  His voice is getting lower.  Gunhee’s dick twitches in his pants, and he palms himself on instinct, trying not to moan.

“You looked good,” Gunhee says, closing his eyes and bringing up the image in his mind.  “Minhyuk hyung giving you that selfie stick was probably the best thing to happen to me all year.”

“What else do you think about?” Jooheon asks.

Something suddenly occurs to Gunhee and he pauses, even though he’s half-hard and he’s really never too tired for phone sex.  “Aren’t you in public?”

“Uh…not _exactly_ …”

“Babe,” Gunhee says.  “You can’t long-distance booty call me on the dorm balcony.  That’s like, public indecency.”

“But I _miss_ you,” Jooheon whines.  “My dick misses you.  I can’t help it.”

“I miss your dick too,” Gunhee says. _And your mouth, and your ass, and your hands_...but no, they’re not having phone sex right now.  “Two more weeks, and it’s mine.”

“It’s yours now,” Jooheon mumbles, sounding sullen.  “Just like the rest of me.”

Gunhee’s breath feels like it’s been punched out of him.  “God,” he says, swallowing around the lump in his throat.

“Okay, that came out all romantic, but I meant it in a sexy way,” Jooheon says.  “I wasn’t trying to be cute.”

“You’re always cute,” Gunhee says, rubbing his nose.  “Asshole.”

Jooheon makes a sarcastic, indistinct noise.  Gunhee can picture the face he’s making without even having to try.

 “ _Gunhee-e-e-e_ ,” Jooheon says after a moment.  He blows out a short breath. “This sucks.”

“Word,” Gunhee sighs.  “It won’t be like this forever.”

“Why’d you have to go so far for school?” Jooheon asks petulantly.  It’s an old argument, they’ve had it a hundred times.  “You could’ve stayed here.  With me.”

Gunhee’s heart squeezes in his chest.  “You know I couldn’t’ve,” he murmurs.  “I hate this too.  But it’s how it’s gotta be right now.”

It had been a lot easier, when they were in high school, to pretend like they could just go to the same college, share the same apartment, live and play and work together forever.  But then Jooheon had gotten a scholarship at their local university, and Gunhee had gotten one at a university across the country.  There wasn’t much to be done, in the end.  

There’s a part of Gunhee that’s always known they’d have to be separated at some point, that it’s probably not healthy to be spending his entire life always with the same person.  That he’d eventually need to find out who he is _without_ Jooheon, and that Jooheon would need to do the same thing.  It’s necessary, probably.  He knows they needed to do it, but knowing it doesn’t make it any easier.  Gunhee misses Jooheon like a limb, misses everything about him so bad it leaves him breathless sometimes.  

It’s all fine and well to be self-actualized and independent in theory, but Gunhee’s found that even on his best days, without Jooheon, he’s not quite whole.

“Gunhee,” Jooheon says.  He sounds tired.  “Do you still wanna get married?”

“Uh,” Gunhee says, taken aback.  “I mean...I think so.  Aren’t we kind of already?  You just said we were, like, a few minutes ago.”

“I wanna do it for real,” Jooheon says.  “With all our friends.  And a priest and shit.”

“Kinky,” Gunhee says.

“And rings.”

“You just want a diamond, don’t you,” Gunhee grins.  “I’ll get you a big one.”

“Come on,” Jooheon protests.  “I’m being serious.”  He hiccups again, and Gunhee scrubs a hand over his face.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” he says, finally.  “I wanna do it too, you know I do.  But we just...have to wait.  I can’t marry you when you’re all the way over there.”

Jooheon blows a raspberry into the phone.

“I can’t even afford a ring until I get my degree and get certified, so, I’m not really sure what else to tell you.”  Gunhee winces at the tone of his own voice; three in the morning really isn’t the best time to have this conversation.

Jooheon says, “Sorry.”

“No,” Gunhee says, flopping back on his bed.  “Don’t be.   _I’m_ sorry, I just.  I miss you a lot too.  I miss everyone, but I really, really, _really_ miss you.”

“We are gonna do it though, right?” Jooheon asks.  His voice sounds a little hoarse, and Gunhee squeezes his eyes shut, trying with all his might to keep it together.

“Fuck yeah,” he manages.  “What the fuck, like I’d ever marry anyone else.  We’ve already done it three times anyways, I think it’s probably inevitable we’ll do it for real at some point.”

“Maybe,” Jooheon says through a yawn, “Maybe we could do it one more time?  Before we do it for real, I mean.”

“What, like right now?”

“Mm,” Jooheon mumbles.  “Just a fast one.  I’m sleepy.”

“You’re not even gonna remember this in the morning,” Gunhee tells him fondly.  “Dumbass.”

“I will too,” Jooheon grunts.  “Just do it.  Marry me, asshole.”

“This is the most romantic shit I’ve ever done for you,” Gunhee says.  “Okay, fine.  Lee Jooheon, do you take me, your dick-whipped boyfriend, to be your lawfully wedded husband?  Uh, something about sickness and health, richer or poorer, et cetera, to have and to hold as long as we both shall live?”

Jooheon giggles.  “Uh-huh.  I do.  Do you….take me too?  For all that stuff?”

“You bet your sweet ass I do,” Gunhee says.  “Sorry I can’t kiss you.”

There’s a smacking sound on the other end of the line, and Jooheon says, “There, I kissed you.”

“I feel so sorry for anyone that’s had to listen to this conversation,” Gunhee sighs.

“I’m not that loud,” Jooheon says.  He yawns again.  “Well.  You know.  When I’m just talking.”

Gunhee smiles to himself.  “Yeah.”

“You sure we can’t have phone sex?”

“Babe,” Gunhee says, yawning as well.  “I have class in the morning.  I need to go to sleep.”

“Okay, okay.”  There’s a clattering noise in the background.  “Hold on, I’m going back inside.  I probably shouldn’t pass out on the porch.  Again.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Gunhee agrees.  He stretches out.  “I’ll stay on the line.  Let me know when you’re in bed.”

A couple minutes later, he hears a thud, followed by a series of shuffling sounds.  “Ah,” Jooheon’s breath crackles into the receiver.  “Beds are so nice.”

Gunhee nods against his pillow.  “Yep.”

“I wish you were here, though.”

“I know,” Gunhee says, softly.  “I wish I was there too.”

“Two weeks?”

“Two weeks.”

“Hmm...okay.”  Jooheon makes a sleepy, muffled sound.  “I guess we should say goodnight then.”

“We should,” Gunhee says.

“Night-night,” Jooheon whispers.  He says something else, but it’s too quiet for Gunhee to hear.

“I love you,” Gunhee murmurs, after a minute or so has passed.  Jooheon snores down the line.

Gunhee closes his eyes.  He doesn’t hang up, and Jooheon doesn't either.

 

***

 

The fifth time, they’re twenty-six, and Gunhee can’t find his vows.

“Did you check your inside pockets?” Minhyuk asks, patting him down.  “It has to be somewhere, I saw you reading over it in the car.”

“That was like, over an hour ago,” Gunhee says.  “Fuck.   _Fuck_.  They must’ve fallen out on the walk over here....I’ll never find them.”

Minhyuk sticks two fingers in his mouth and whistles shrilly.  “Yoonho!  Seokwon!  Get over here!”

“Jesus,” Gunhee snaps, rubbing his ears.  “If you could help without making me deaf, that would be great.”

“I’m going to ignore how rude you’re being right now because it’s your wedding day,” Minhyuk tells him.  He turns to Yoonho and Seokwon, who have just shuffled over, looking adorable and overgrown in their suits.  “Gun-ah dropped a _really_ important paper somewhere along the path outside, the one leading up to the parking lot.  I need you guys to go look for it.  Quickly.”

Seokwon’s eyes widen.  “Is it your vows?” he asks Gunhee, voice hushed.

“Look,” Gunhee says.  “I don’t know what anyone expects.  I never pretended to have my shit together in the first place.”

Minhyuk gives Yoonho a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.  “Just go,” he whispers, nodding to them.  “He’ll be fine.”

Gunhee sinks into a crouch on the floor, groaning into his hands.

“Do you remember what you wrote?” Yoosu asks, kneeling down beside him.

“I think so?” Gunhee says.  “I just know I’m gonna screw it up if I go up there without them written down.  I’ll forget something, or say the wrong thing.”

“You won’t,” Yoosu says.  He puts a hand on Gunhee’s back.  “Listen, worst case scenario, you might not be able to recite them verbatim.  But you’re not gonna screw it up.  You know how you feel, and what you want to say.  I don’t really think there’s a wrong way to tell someone that you want to...you know, be with them forever.”

Gunhee turns to look at him.

“You love Jooheon.  All you gotta do is go up there and say that.”  Yoosu claps him firmly on the shoulder.  “Don’t even trip.  You’re gonna be fine.”

Gunhee laughs, surprised.  “Damn,” he says. “That was actually...very comforting.  Thank you.”

Yoosu grins.  “C’mon.  Get up, you’re gonna wrinkle your tux and then Hoseok hyung’s gonna have a stroke and kill you.”

Gunhee sniffs, but straightens up.  “For someone who spent the majority of the past ten years practically naked, he sure has a lot of strong opinions about clothes.”

“Go figure,” Yoosu laughs.  “Hey.  For what it’s worth, though, you look great.”

“Yeah?” Gunhee smirks.  “A little like James Bond, right?”

“...Sure,” Yoosu nods, slowly.  “Let’s go with that.”

Gunhee makes a face at him and pushes his hair back in the mirror.  “Fuck off.  I do look good though, you’re right about that.”

“You look happy,” Yoosu says.  “Really happy.”

Across the room, Kihyun blows his nose.

“Hyung,” Gunhee calls.  “Are you crying already?”

“ _No_ ,” Kihyun sobs.  “I’m _not_.”

“Nice,” Gunhee says.  “This wedding is going to be a disaster.”

“Five minutes ‘till go time,” Minhyuk says, walking back in.  “Are we ready?”

“We’re one groomsman down,” Yoosu says, pointing at Kihyun.  “Did they find Gunhee’s vows?”

Minhyuk shakes his head. “Negative.”  

Gunhee sighs.  “Shit.”

“You,” Minhyuk tells him, tugging him forward and smoothing the lapels on his jacket, “Are going to go out there and wing it, and say beautiful things, straight from the heart like you always do.  Just, try to keep it PG.”

“I make no promises,” Gunhee says.

Minhyuk tuts quietly, adjusts his collar, and then steps back.  “Perfect.”

Gunhee winks.  “Baby.”

“Are you nervous?” Minhyuk asks, looking at him brightly.

“Uh.”  Gunhee bounces a little on the soles of his feet.  He should be nervous, he thinks.  He should be sweating bullets; he’s about to go out in front of all his friends and family and get _married_ , to the boy he’s been in love with as long as he can remember, and he has no idea what he’s even going to say.  He should be hurling into a trash can.

“I’m actually okay,” he says.  He laughs.  “I’m actually...wow, yeah.  I’m great.  What the fuck.”

Kihyun blows his nose again.

“Of course you are,” Minhyuk says.  His smile trembles a little.

“Don’t you start,” Gunhee warns.

“I’m not.”  Minhyuk’s voice cracks.  He fans himself.  “I’ll hold it until the ceremony, I promise.”

“Go slap Kihyun hyung or something,” Gunhee suggests.  “That might make you feel better.”

Minhyuk nods fervently.  “Good idea.”

Kwangji pokes his head into the room.  “Everybody ready?  Jooheonnie just went out.”

Gunhee lets out a long breath.  “Fuck,” he says.  He steps forward.  “Let’s do this.  I’m ready to get hitched.”

“You good?” Kwangji asks him as they walk towards the garden.  His easy smile suggests he knows that Gunhee’s fantastic, but Gunhee gives him an affirmative nod all the same.

“I’m like...so good,” he says.  “Man.  I’m ready for the honeymoon to start, I’ll tell you that much.”

Kwangji laughs.  “Jooheon said the same thing.”  He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ring Gunhee picked for Jooheon, the one he gave him eight months ago in the park down the street from their apartment building, kneeling down under the pretense of tying his shoe.  It’s a simple white gold band with a solid gold stripe going all the way around, classic and masculine, a little flashy.  Just like Jooheon.

“I lost my vows,” Gunhee tells him.  He can hear the music playing in the garden.  His groomsmen file past, one by one.  Kihyun is still sniffling, though he seems to have it mostly under control.

Kwangji shrugs.  “No you didn’t,” he says.  He pats Gunhee’s jacket, right over his heart.  “They’re right here.”

Gunhee stares at him.  Under any other circumstances, he’d probably make gagging sounds and try to give Kwangji a noogie, but he finds himself improbably moved.  “Hyung,” he says.

Kwangji gestures to the garden path.  “Get going,” he says.  “I’m right behind you.”

The venue they chose isn’t especially glamourous by anyone’s standards; Gunhee’s been to plenty of weddings in ostentatious ballrooms, banquet halls, elegantly decorated churches and temples.  He would’ve been fine with any of those things, but the public garden feels more like them, a little wilder, a little more permanent.  It’s not far away, they can come back here anytime.  They can walk their hypothetical future dog here - or, maybe, someday in the distant future, bring their kids here.

 _Plus_ , Jooheon had said.   _If we don’t spend a lot on the venue, we can have a kick-ass open bar at the reception.  With like, ice sculptures and shit._

They don’t have ice sculptures.  It’s September, and it’s still warm enough that Gunhee’s looking forward to taking his jacket off.  But their reception is still going to be legendary.

Gunhee hears a lot of people congratulating him as he walks down the aisle, a lot of whispers that he doesn’t really register, a few pats on the back, one enthusiastic slap on the butt that can only be his cousin.  He doesn’t get a chance to acknowledge them, or even look at them.  He couldn’t even if he wanted to.

“Dang,” Jooheon murmurs, once he reaches the end.  “You clean up nice, Song Gunhee.”

Gunhee eyes him up and down.  “Figured I should at least look presentable,” he replies in an undertone.  “ _You_ look...God damn.”

The minister clears his throat.

“Shit.  Sorry,” Gunhee says quickly.  Jooheon looks like he’s trying not to laugh.

Well, if he didn’t embarrass himself in one way or another at his own wedding, it just wouldn’t be right, Gunhee supposes.

Anyways, the minister is mostly there for show, and for Jooheon’s family.  Gunhee’s not even sure he’s _technically_ in the clergy; they’d just found him online, on a short list of supposedly ordained church leaders willing to wed two guys in holy matrimony.

He says a few words that Gunhee doesn’t pay attention to, reads a couple Bible passages.   _Love is patient, love is kind_ , Gunhee’s heard it a hundred times already.  It’s nice, sure, but it’s not really _theirs_.

“You’ve prepared your own vows?” he asks.

“Yes,” Jooheon confirms.

Gunhee says, “Kind of.”

The minister gives him a beady look, and then nods to Jooheon.  “You may proceed.”

Jooheon pulls a worn-looking paper from inside his jacket and unfolds it.  His hands are shaking, Gunhee notices.  He forces himself to stay still.

“Gunhee,” Jooheon starts.  He bites his lip.  “To be honest, when we first decided to write our own vows, I didn’t think I’d have anything left to say that you didn’t already know.  We’ve already had four unofficial weddings.  And even though they weren’t legally binding, or witnessed by all these people, I’ve always kept my vows; to love you, to cherish you, to be with you when you’re sad and play with you when you’re happy, to trust you and stand by you and give you my heart.”

Gunhee swallows.  Over Jooheon’s shoulder, he can see Hoseok’s head bowed.  Kihyun’s probably turning into a puddle somewhere behind him.

“I don’t really have a good reason for why I want to do this with you so much,” Jooheon continues, voice rasping a little.  “I don’t really think it’s going to be any different, once we’re married.  I married you in my heart a long time ago.  But I think that, if I put just one thing into writing from now until the end of my life, I want it to be this: I love you, Song Gunhee.  And I want to spend the rest of my life loving you.”  He folds his paper back up and slips it back into his jacket.  “That’s it,” he says quietly.  His expression is soft when he meets Gunhee’s eyes again.  The tops of his ears are red.

“Well,” Gunhee says.  “I, too, wrote all my vows down on a piece of paper, and somehow lost it on the way here.  So, there’s that.”

Jooheon bursts out laughing, then quickly silences himself at a stern look from the minister.

“Anyways.”  Gunhee sobers himself as well.  “I’ll keep it short, because I don’t really want to wait any longer than I have to to kiss you.”

A whimper behind him tells him Minhyuk is now crying as well.

“I’ve been in love with you since I was six years old,” he says.  “Maybe even before that; I assume I was, because I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to spend every minute of my life with you.”  His throat constricts - he swallows, again.  “I know you’re the love of my life, because I’ve loved you for that long already.  You’ve had my heart since you kissed me on the playground back in kindergarten.”

Jooheon’s lip trembles.

“This is a lot fancier than our other weddings,” Gunhee acknowledges, looking around.  “If you want to do a an even bigger one in four years, as per our custom, we can do it.  Hell, I’ll marry you every day for the rest of our lives if you want.  As long as I can be with you.”

He nods to the minister, squeezes Jooheon’s hands.  “Don’t cry,” he whispers.  “Baby.  Don’t cry.”

Jooheon shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything.  Gunhee holds his hands as tightly as he dares.

The rest of the ceremony passes in a blur of sweating from the heat, trying not to cry, and remembering to say “I do” at the right parts.  Gunhee thinks he does okay.  He loses a few tears when he puts the ring on Jooheon’s finger, and a few more when Jooheon responds in kind, but from the noises behind them, he’s holding it together better than everyone else.

The minister says, “You may now kiss the groom,” and Jooheon kisses him so fiercely Gunhee forgets how to breathe.

“God,” he mumbles, cupping Jooheon’s face, throwing his arms around his neck and hauling him in tighter.  “Come here.”  He kisses Jooheon almost hard enough to bruise, nuzzles him with his nose, draws him in and in until someone wolf-whistles, and he remembers that they have not only an audience, but an audience that includes his grandmother.

Jooheon gasps a little when they break apart.  Gunhee feels lightheaded.

The minister, incredibly, is blushing.  “Well,” he says.  “Congratulations, you two.”

Gunhee interlaces his fingers with Jooheon’s as they walk back down the aisle, waving and smiling at everyone, his heart soaring in his chest.  “We totally nailed that one,” he says.  “Best wedding yet.”

“I feel kind of bad for making everyone cry,” Jooheon replies, nodding and bowing to a relative.  “Maybe we should’ve been less mushy.”

“Hyunwoo hyung wasn’t crying,” Gunhee says.  “Changkyunnie...almost didn’t cry.  I saw him leaking a little after we did our vows.”

“I caught a glimpse of Kihyun hyung after you did yours.  I thought he was going to dissolve,” Jooheon says seriously.  “I knew they cared, but.  Wow.”

“I guess it’s the first time seeing us get married for them,” Gunhee reasons.  “We’re old hats at it now, or whatever.”

“We are,” Jooheon grins.  “You ready to do this for real?”

“First, you have to feed me cake,” Gunhee tells him.  “Then I’ll be ready.”

Jooheon’s eyes widen.  “I forgot about the cake,” he says.  “Oh, I’m excited.  Shit.  I haven’t eaten since this morning, I was so distracted.”

“Idiot,” Gunhee says fondly.  “How’s this for a plan: let’s eat a ton of cake, party all night with our friends, and then in the morning, we can get on a plane and have nonstop sex for a week straight.”

“I am _so_ glad I married you,” Jooheon sighs.  “You get me.”

Gunhee leans his head on his shoulder.  “Yeah,” he agrees.  “I do.”

They walk into the reception hall to an explosion of cheers.  Jooheon doesn’t look back, and Gunhee doesn’t either.

 

**Author's Note:**

> happy belated birthday, jooheon ♥


End file.
